Daycare rant!!

yogahh

Over Xmas DH and I visited a daycare and love it! It's more of a school than a daycare run out of someone's basement and I feel like it's a safer option (too many horror stories in NYC of unlicensed centers!) They also have locations all over the area so when we move, relocating her won't be an issue. We're ready to register but have a few questions. I emailed the admin in 2/4- no reply. Called on Tuesday and spoke with her assistant who checked their emails and saw my message. She said to resend another email with all questions and she would make sure the head got my message. That was Tuesday morning. Here we are 72 hours later with no reply. Would this lack of communication worry you guys or am I just being anal? This center has amazing reviews, I really don't want to find another center. But this stuff drives me bonkers!!!

Rant over...

emma+karen

The daycare we settled on I have some similar reservations about because both times I've been there, the director has been unavailable.  I LOVED the teachers that I met, and the first time understandably the director was dealing with an unexpected emergency, but it threw me off a bit. Unfortunately, our options are pretty limited if we want the baby near where I work (in a very rural area) so we are going with it, since I liked literally everything else.  Sounds like you are in a similar boat with loving the center but being concerned about lack of communication.  You could always stop in or call again and let them know the lack of communication is concerning you and is the only thing holding you back from registering.

PYLWhammy

Well, I don't think you're being anal. I mean, if they can't respond to a simple email or phone call now (when they're trying to get you to enroll your kid), what's it going to be like when your kid is actually enrolled? I'd be worried about lack of communication. Though maybe there's some extenuating circumstances going on right now (short staffed or whatever). But still, you're not off base here.

js8812

It would bother me a bit.  Are you officially enrolled there?  If I was in her position, all inquiries would be important, but I would prioritize my time with current clients first, then prospective clients second, etc.

Next time you do visit with her, address your concern with communication and ask what the protocol is for regular communication with parents.

Daycare is hard.   Good luck.

dsmith211

We had a similar situation and it bugged me a bit at the time, but came to find out it was bc the person we were trying to contact had been out bc they were sick. It made me feel a little better that they chose not to go in while sick over responding to my request once I found that out. I would just call back and see if something else was going on, then you could gauge if your worries about lack of communication should send you somewhere else or if all is ok.

Bltbear82

I don't know where in BK you are, but see if your neighborhood has a parent's association and ask for feedback on the center, and include a question about communication. I agree it's concerning but I know how tough it is to find a quality place, so getting local perspectives would be helpful. If you're near Park Slope their parent's association is the gold standard, my organization (West Village) constantly references their community board. 

yogahh

Bltbear82 said:

I don't know where in BK you are, but see if your neighborhood has a parent's association and ask for feedback on the center, and include a question about communication. I agree it's concerning but I know how tough it is to find a quality place, so getting local perspectives would be helpful. If you're near Park Slope their parent's association is the gold standard, my organization (West Village) constantly references their community board. 

I'm on my areas fb page and everyone raves about how great they are.

I think I'll give her until Tuesday and call again. I just don't want to be that annoying mom

RMLandy

We love our pre-school, and will be sending this baby there starting as an infant. And their adminstration/office sucks. And at least once a week I have to ring the bell several times to get in the building. It's annoying. But we love and trust all e teachers and are thrilled with how prepared my oldest is going to be for kindergarten. I've learned that I have to 1) be persistent and 2) just walk into the office/classroom when needed to get my questions answered. Which isn't terrible, anyway, because now they know me by face/name and I feel really good about that. To me, it's the classroom environment that is the most important so I'll just deal with the other stuff.

ETA: Be that annoying mom when you have to - in the absolute nicest way.

buffythevampireslayer

I wouldn't be too worried, especially if you know people who like it and hear good things. Maybe they aren't great at responding to e-mails because they are spending every moment taking care of the babies!

Pascal86

I just visited a daycare yesterday that seems great (we just got into our favorite, so we won't be using this one), but she mentioned that they're not big enough yet to have a real admin person so it's just her. She assured us that if we bombard her with emails she won't be upset - it's helpful to her since she's busy with the kids all day and things get lost in the mix. I imagine a lot of small private daycares are like that - quality of childcare seems great, but you just aren't going to get the best admin service ever. I say go ahead and harass them, they probably are fine with the reminders.

yogahh

Pascal86 said:

I just visited a daycare yesterday that seems great (we just got into our favorite, so we won't be using this one), but she mentioned that they're not big enough yet to have a real admin person so it's just her. She assured us that if we bombard her with emails she won't be upset - it's helpful to her since she's busy with the kids all day and things get lost in the mix. I imagine a lot of small private daycares are like that - quality of childcare seems great, but you just aren't going to get the best admin service ever. I say go ahead and harass them, they probably are fine with the reminders.

If it was a small facility I could see them not getting around to it. But they aren't. Like I said, its more like a school and I would estimate they have close to 100 kids. It is just worrisome that I have to stalk this woman to get an answer. I think I am just going to show up one morning this week and see if I can find her. Blahhhh

Bltbear82

@yogahh if you decide to ambush her maybe ask her what their protocol is for parent communication. It might be a situation like PPs have said that they're overwhelmed if it is like a school rather than daycare because it is prime preschool admissions right now, we are waiting to hear from our schools this week. 

yogahh

Bltbear82 said:

@yogahh if you decide to ambush her maybe ask her what their protocol is for parent communication. It might be a situation like PPs have said that they're overwhelmed if it is like a school rather than daycare because it is prime preschool admissions right now, we are waiting to hear from our schools this week. 

I get that too. But my 1st email was sent on 2/4. I have followed up twice now since then via email and called twice as well. Either they want our business, or they don't. Its just sad that its the only decent place around here or I honestly would be looking elsewhere at this point. Kinda makes me wanna just be a SAHM even more!

mcb2016

It is annoying, but I personally would give it more time. Your baby isn't even going to be starting at the day care for months.

saladflambe

Have you pulled up the social services report to look at how many violations the place has had? How many are related to complaints? That would be my #1 source.

One of the daycares that I THOUGHT was my top choice because of how many people seemed to love it turned out to have wayyyy more violations than the one we ultimately settled on

Bltbear82

yogahh said:

Bltbear82 said:

@yogahh if you decide to ambush her maybe ask her what their protocol is for parent communication. It might be a situation like PPs have said that they're overwhelmed if it is like a school rather than daycare because it is prime preschool admissions right now, we are waiting to hear from our schools this week. 

I get that too. But my 1st email was sent on 2/4. I have followed up twice now since then via email and called twice as well. Either they want our business, or they don't. Its just sad that its the only decent place around here or I honestly would be looking elsewhere at this point. Kinda makes me wanna just be a SAHM even more!

Ok that's unreasonably long, I totally hear you. 
I know it's frustrating, I feel like demand is so high for everything kid-related in this city that they basically figure if they lose a few people due to lack of responsiveness there's always a line anyway so those don't matter as much. Good luck!